1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed invention relates to software applications that run on mobile devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods of enabling mobile device applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term “app” is a commonly-used abbreviation of the term “application software.” In many contexts, “app” is also commonly-used to refer specifically to mobile applications. Mobile applications (or “mobile apps”) are application software designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers (including electronic reading devices or e-readers), and other mobile devices. Apps may be made available by application developers through application distribution platforms, many of which are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple® App StoreSM, Google Play™, Windows® Store, and BlackBerry® App World™. Some apps are available for free, while others must be bought. Usually, such apps are downloaded from the platform to a target device, such as an iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Android®, or Windows® phone, other mobile device, laptop, or desktop computer.
Mobile apps were originally offered for general productivity and information retrieval, including email, calendar, contacts, stock market, and weather information. However, public demand and the availability of developer tools drove rapid expansion into other categories, such as mobile games, factory automation, GPS, and location-based services, banking, order-tracking, and ticket purchases. The explosion in number and variety of apps made discovery a challenge, which in turn led to the creation of a wide range of review, recommendation, and curation sources, including blogs, magazines, and dedicated online app-discovery services.
Given the extraordinary number of apps available, a user may have great difficulty in determining which apps which he or she would find useful or interesting. A customer may be unaware of an app, or may find conventional methods of searching or browsing app stores inadequate, uninformative, untrustworthy, or otherwise unable to identify apps of interest in a timely manner (e.g., when the user may have need for the app). Moreover, there currently exists no way for an application provider to offer discounted or free applications to customers while in a physical geo-location associated with that application.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved systems and methods for providing mobile applications associated with geo-location.